The 42 million Americans who rely on government help to pay for food will see the biggest-ever increase in their benefits starting in October, but some experts say it may not be enough to help hungry households put food on the table.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday announced the largest-ever increase in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, formerly known as food stamps. The increase will amount to 25% more per month compared to what recipients got before the pandemic.
How many people rely on SNAP benefits? In February 2020, prior to the widespread onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., nearly 37 million people relied on SNAP benefits. As of May 2021, 42 million did, according to the latest figures from the USDA. “The timing of the USDA’s announcement is vital,” said researchers at the Urban Institute, a liberal-leaning think-tank. Without the increase, “families receiving SNAP benefits would have faced a significant reduction in resources to buy food,” they added.
“ Some 17.7 million households reported they sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat in July 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey ” To calculate food costs, the USDA uses a reference family of four “consisting of a man and a woman, both age 20 through 50 and two children, one age between 6 through 8 and one age 9 through 11.”
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